Both auto and manual have their good points and bad points. It is a trade off for what you like and the intended usage.

For me, I think it is just more fun driving a stick.

8 of the 9 Corvettes I have had were sticks. I even sold the one ('88 A4) to get a stick ('94 6M) for my daily driver.

On our C4's (and C5's) the 6M also gets better mileage than the automatics. I do a lot of highway driving and rack up a lot of miles so that is a nice bonus with the 6M.

The ZF 6M is a pretty strong durable transmission. I have abused mine regularly and they hold up. Many people race them regularly and they hold up. I hear more about the A4's running into problems, but they are still pretty reliable and can be upgraded some if needed.

The automatics are much easier to drive, more consistent for drag racing, easier to launch, and even more availability of parts/repairs/replacements.


A long time ago I used to race a lot. I don't know if I was quicker than an automatic, but I know when fender to fender with another car and I powershifted, my car would jump forward about a half a fender on the car next to me.

My launches were pretty good then too, but I have lost that skill years ago and don't practice enough to be able to launch anywhere near what I can do in an automatic.

The bottom line... I enjoy the 6M more.

 

Post of the day

 

Yeah it's all about horses for courses. If you mainly drive in traffic the auto makes sense, but if you're like me and only use it on the weekends cruising country roads, a manual is perfect for the job.
I knew what I wanted and made the extra effort to find a good manual car and every time I drive it I'm glad I did.

 

There is a simple purity that exists when you are at one with the car through each gear change. Heel and toe shifting on the proper line through a road course is the ultimate connection between car and driver. There was a time when I cringed in horror at the thought of a sports car without a proper manual.

After 40 some years of stick and clutch work, I am very happy with my auto. When you consider the demographic of new corvette buyers, that probably explains the high percentage of autos. My Dad's C7 is a paddle shift auto. He never touches the paddles.

Only time I missed the stick shift was on the NCM Motorsports Park track. But that's the exception.

 

I would have preferred a stick, but have come to grips in my mind that my right hand/arm/shoulder is compromised. I have been researching what it takes to make the 4L60E live and the parts are available. In fact, the parts from the 65E/75E retrofit back.

I am fortunate that there is a noted transmission builder close to me. There is also a guy in the club I joined that successfully raced an auto car until in was totalled. He said he knows how to set up fan powered trans and oil coolers and such back where the spare tire went if I want to do that.

When the time comes I am going to have do the trans in a similar manner as the one in the following article.

Will I need all the mods in the article done ? No. Will I have the 1st and 2nd gear ratios changed, maybe/maybe not. But it shows what can be done with the 4L60E and its predecessors as the parts retrofit.

http://www.superchevy.com/how-to/tra...r-gear-ratios/

 

Ronnie Sox and Connie Kalitta come to mind as premier 4 speed shifters. I think Grumpy Jenkins falls into that group for a while. That's a few of the better known manual shifters.

That's one reason I have an automatic T-Bird and a manual Vette. Manuals suck around town, particularly when you're stopped on a hill or in a traffic jam. Manuals are wonderful to take on a drive and row the gears out in the country.

Thing is somewhere I read where about 10-15% of Vettes now have the manual transmission, most are automatics. Another thing is most drivers ed classes my kids took did not even cover manual transmissions in their training or driving. When I was young, manuals were the standard and automatics were the added-cost option. Now it seems to be the reverse if they're available in most cars at all. They sell more of what people obviously will buy and seems to be automatics these days. Have to admit paddle shifters look interesting but I have yet to drive one.

My 2 cents.

 

There's a reason manual transmissions used to be called "standard," when the other option was automatic.

Automatics were also a luxury, or prestige level option for a long time, when they were offered.

When I first got told I was going to be given my Dad's '87 C4, I did a bunch of reading, of course, and one of the articles I read mentioned the C4 as being primarily ordered with automatics, because at the time, early eighties, that automatic as a prestige item, thought process was in full play.

I don't know, was fourteen in '84, I had other things on my mind at the time.

I am fortunate enough to have two cars to choose from on any given day, the '87 C4, which is a 700R4 which has recently been rebuilt, and rebuilt in such a way that the weakness listed up thread aways have been addressed. Stronger clutch packs, with more clutches, a shift kit, and several other items were included. I like it. It works far better than it used to.

My other car is a '15 1LE Camaro. It's got a Tremec TR-6060 six speed manual in it, and I love that thing to pieces. It is the best manual transmission I have spent any length of time with.

Having been stuck in traffic for extended periods in both, think highway as a rarely moving parking lot for over an hour sorts of traffic, the clutching in the Camaro gets old pretty quickly.

For "spirited" driving, I think the manual is just more fun. It is definitely my choice for corner carving or road course duty. I find it more engaging, more involving. That's just me. I love the way it feels.

I know though, that I don't shift nearly as quickly as a new automatic. Someone in an identical car, with a good, modern automatic, dual clutch or more traditional torque converter, instead of the manual, is going to put in a faster lap time.

If I were bracket racing, I'd build with an automatic, no question.

I think the only virtue that can be ascribed to manuals any longer, from a purely logical perspective, is that of theft deterrence. We've also seen the videos of car thefts gone nowhere because the thief didn't know how to drive a manual right?

 

Anyone here have a full manual valve body in their C4? I may do that, before I price my car really low since it has not sold.

 

I wouldn't unless you have an absolute need for it. The new buyer might not like it and offer less.

 

True. Only reason I am considering it is because it's been very hard to sell. I've had offers which I've said yes to, but I guess they were BS'ing.

 

It's personal preference really. I enjoy my ZF6. I enjoyed my automatic C6s. I really enjoy my manual C6 now. I have a truck with an auto for a daily driver, so when I drive the vette with a stick it feels like an occassion.

I daily drove my previous STI with a stick, and it wasn't bad. I could do it again. If I lived in a larger city with tons of traffic, I might not enjoy it as much.

 

My daily is a C7 M7.

I recent bought a "car in a box" C4 project car for a great price--with an auto.

I bought it for a project/track/ autocross car, but am worried about the auto. Not because of reliability, but because of feel/fun. All of my cars for the last 20+ years have been a manual.

I am tempted to fix it up a little and have it be my "winter vette" instead.

 

You can just drive it like having a manual valve body now. The only difference is if you choose to put it in D it will still shift itself.

I think your car can get paddle shift if you want. At least there used to be an option for sure for the 94-95 cars.

 

I have an 87 trans with a auto.. But the car has been modified. The auto trans has obviously had some work done to it and works great, but with the 4.11 rear end the thing is humming at high speeds. I would change it to a t56 in a heartbeat if I had the time and money and get a win on both ends (top and and bottom end). I have driven standard cars all my life.

 

4:11 with the auto?

 

yup lol. I didn't do it. But the torque to the wheels is ridicules

130 km/h on the speedo is actually 100 km/h real (approx.), I installed a GPS to keep an eye on actual speed.

 

What's 1st gear good for, 30 mph?

 

BTDT and all it did was suck gas so unless you are racing, meaningless

 

If it spins the wheels, all that is happening is money burning with the rubber.

That is what you needed to do. Change the drive and driven gears for the speedo

 

Those L98's fissile around 5k as it is and then to add 4:11 gears ???